All Things Irish

Corned beef was on sale at the grocery for just under $1/lb! Craziness! I had never cooked corned beef before tonight. It takes a long time. I am not a very patient person. Things that take 3 hours with no variation are hard to deal with. Luckily the mouth watering aromas helped to keep my interset throughout the project. 3 hours after I tossed the corned beef seasoned brisket in the boiling water, the makings for Reuben sandwiches were in the works! Add a couple of very tasty Irish stouts, great conversation with a wonderful friend, and you've got a great way to spend a Friday night!

Happy St. Patty's Day. I hope your day turned out as good as mine.

I LOVE my car!!

Oh wait, I mean I HATE my car and I LOVE my new bike!!! I got my new DH rig for the year yesterday. It is Giant Glory, and it is my favorite color...blue. Not my favorite shade of blue, but it's blue nonetheless! I can't wait to take it our for a test drive! Right now it's parked two feet from my bed in my room! The garage isn't good enough for her! I'll post some pics soon!

Why I hate my car: It locked me out today!! You might be saying, ya right, you locked yourself out, you idiot, but I truly didn't lock myself out of my car, the car did! VW has taken great measures to outsmart you so you can't lock yourself out or your car. They also have this neat little feature whereby if you unlock the doors but you never open a door, it will relock itself after about 2 or 3 minutes. So, here's how it happened. I unlock the door. I open the door tossing the keys in the front seat (so I don't have to look for the later). I notice that I need to fill my water bottle. I grab it and closed the door (with the keys still in the front seat). I am pouring out the old water in the bushes 5 feet from my car when it suddenly goes, bleep, bleep. That's how I've decided to spell the lovely noise the car makes when it's LOCKING ITSELF with my keys in the front seat!!! And yes, I DO have a spare, but it was in my purse, also in my car with my computer and my bike! Normally, I would have just been annoyed by this little antic my car decided to pull. However, today I actually HAD to be somewhere. Well, I always "have" to be somewhere, but today I had gone dirt jumping with Lisa at Arbor in the morning and was already getting to work late. The more pressing issue was that I had homework due in my class today and hadn't really started on it. Also I had to give a presentation that was only on the computer, in my car!

Yea for AAA!! They opened up the door 45 minutes later, and I was on my way to work...at 11:00. Luckily everyone else at work called in sick today! I guess that was the yang to the yin of getting locked out of my car BY my car!

Happy St. Patty's Day. East some corned beef and drink some cold green beer, or maybe just the corned beef. =)

Trainer Riding 101

So, yesterday the weather was still pretty cold, there was still a bit of snow on the ground, and I couldn't ride until dark anyway. I had a stroke of genius at about 11:30...If I'm going to have to ride the trainer for 2 hours tonight, then how can I make it as painless as possible?? There is a huge screen with on overhead projector in the classroom next to the lab that I work in. I've always thought of getting a bunch of friends together with some beer and pizza and having a movie night in there because it would be like watching a movie in a small (okay, really small) theater. The only thing is that the chairs aren't the most comfortable. However, it is a nice large room with plenty of space for some bikes and trainers! So, I emailed my training partner in crime, Lisa, and we decided to make an evening of it.

We thought that the trick to making riding the trainer much more enjoyable might be to put some hot boys riding their bikes really fast and dirt jumping like crazy on a 5'x 5' screen!! It's amazing how well it kept our attention! The line up: So Hot!, Earthed 3, and Unchained (select sections only, as we've seen it so many times that it's really only worth watching the really good sections any more!) We made it easily to 1.5 hours. The last 20 minutes were a struggle for sure, but we knocked out 2 hours and watched some amazing riding at the same time.

The key to making the trainer time doable! Thanks Cam!!

I highly suggest this setup for everyone's time on the trainer. If you aren't so lucky as to have this option available to you, well, then I guess it sucks to be you! =)

It's supposed to be super windy tomorrow, so hopefully our Wisconsin training grounds will be dried out for some dirt jumping and Sea Otter berm training on Thursday! We did some digging out there today, and it is drying out nicely!!

Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't snow again! (Someone needs to keep them crossed on both hands to cancel out Eszter's finger crossings for more snow!) It's almost spring, and I just want to ride my bike (my dirt jumper, not the trainer, as you may be thinking after reading this post!)!!

Long Lost Friends

It's always so much fun to catch up with friends who you haven't seen in a long time but are never far from your thoughts! I got to hang out with my friend Kristin Dole, actually her last name is Goddard, but from a story that I've long since forgotten most of the details, I and a few others, call her Kristin Dole. She is one of the most fun loving people I know. We have had some awesome adventures, and I am psyched that she has recently moved back to Colorado!

Me and Kristin: Our orthodontists would be proud!

Early Mornings and Late Nights

Well, today it is snowing out like crazy, unfortunately. It snowed on Wednesday, too. Luckily, we had really nice weather last week and got a lot of really great riding in before Mother Nature decided to open up on us!

Early morning at Arbor, ahhhh...

Last Thursday, 5 of us headed down to Arbor for an early morning 7:00 a.m. dirt jumping session. Fisher, Wentz, TJ, Lisa, and I all made the trip down in the morning. Although it was a bit chilly, we had a really great session. It's such a nice way to start your day off: adrenaline and good friends. It's a great combo!

Fishie on the 20"

Lisa is killing it dirt jumping lately!

Steve

TJ

Me on the only line I can do at Arbor, but not for long!

Lisa isn't having ANY fun at all!

I was hoping that I wasn't being irresponsible by playing all morning when I should have been studying, as I had a midterm in one of my classes. Normally it wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but the professor of the class is the woman who I am thinking of going back to grad school and working for, so I wanted to make a good impression. Luckily, the early morning dirt jumping then eggs and bacon at TJ's were just what I needed. I did really well on the exam and made a really good impression with Stephanie, so all is well!

On Saturday, Lisa and I got blown down to Evergreen. We ended up digging more than anything, as it was really windy! Lisa is killing the set of REALLY big jumps down there. It has been really great watching her dirt jumping progress over the past couple of months since she got cleared to ride from her August '05 injury. She has helped me with my dirt jumping skills so much! After some great food at Scott's, we headed up to Arbor to finish off the daylight for the day. Although it was a little windy up there, too, it was a tail wind, so we got some pretty good jumping in there, too.

On to the late nights...hahaha My roommates had decided earlier in the week to have a party at our house, so Saturday was assured to be a late night, as their schedule's usually involve going to bed somewhere around 3:30 or 4:00. Pancho arranged for a keg of yummy Fat Tire. About 50 or so people came over, and we all had a good time, especially playing on-the-floor foos ball.

Bama, Kim, and Tom at the party

Happy Feast of Maximum Occupancy Day!!

A few months ago a few of my friends and I decided that we were tired of all of the commercialized holidays and that we were coming up with our own new holiday: the Feast of Maximum Occupancy day. It is officially celebrated on the day after the 28th of February. The celebration requires that you bring a food from your favorite holiday and wear a bathrobe. It is a celebration of gluttony for sure, and it is also a requirement that you show up with grievances to be aired. There were some common themes among the grievances ranging from boys who are mean to roommates that tap dance, but Bishop's list of 6 took the cake, I think. It started with getting scabies while traveling in Japan and had blown out tires and broken ribs thrown in as well. We had a pretty good representation of foods from many other holidays as well: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mardi Gras, and Cinco de Mayo just to name a few. So, like many other holidays that have "mascots" like Santa and the Easter Bunny, the mascot for the Feast of Maximum Occupancy is an unkempt, overweight, sitting-on-the-couch Matthew McConaughey (NOT the hot guy one might think of when you hear his name!). So, we are all completely gorged with yummy homemade dinner and dessert right now, and we all feel a lot better after having talked about the annoying people/things in our lives right now! Good times with great friends, you just can't beat that!

If you've ever looked for an excuse to have fun hanging out with your really good friends, the Feast of Maximum Occupancy may be the holiday for you. Only 364.5 more days till it comes around again! I'll have pictures from Erica coming soon. I know the blog gets boring without any pictures...

Happy FAT Tuesday!

Ahh man, it's only 10:20 in the morning, and I've already had such a great day! Lisa and I read the weather report for here today, and it said 24 mph winds when we're normally able to get out of work and go riding. Uhhhh, ya, not so good. So, while relaxing in thbe hot tub last night, we made the call to get up super early this morning and hit up Arbor, 7:00 am style! It was SOOOO nice. No wind, 50º, and only the geese and early morning dog walkers as spectators. We both had a great 1.5 hour session!

At 8:30 we hopped in the car to make it to the tail end of Heather's Fat Tuesday Pancake Breakfast! What a brilliant idea! Yummy pancakes, bacon, fruit, and great friends. What a great way to start the day!

Happy Fat Tuesday to everyone!!

A Day of Understanding

It has been quite awhile since I have really gotten to ride my bike. Today was beautiful here. The temperature was pretty warm, and the wind died down for a nice dirt jumping session this afternoon. I didn't have the best day I've ever had at the Fix, but I had a day where things felt like they really started to make sense. I'm sure that how I'm jumping looks no different to anyone who might see me, but I feel like I had a bit of a breakthrough with feeling my bike/my body position in the air, and knowing what I am supposed to be doing. I think the super cold days that forced me to be off of the bike were really good for me. It gave me time to pause and reflect so I could acutally think about it all for a bit. I sure was happy to get to finally ride today, though!

Just got back from one of the best shows I have ever been to: Sigur Ros. Check them out, their music is really amazing!

Rough Day. Glad It's Over.

Warning: Not a happy post.

Today was a really rough day for me. 1 year ago today, I lost my sweet kitty, Einstein, to cancer. He got sick really suddenly, and I wasn't prepared for it at all. He was my little buddy that took several road trips and made many moves with me in his 6 short years. He was always there for me no matter how bummed out I was. Since depression often leads to excessive sleeping, I think he was actually an advocate for the bad times! Not really, he just really liked to cuddle with me in bed. Since he didn't really "like" anyone else very much, not many people understand just how much he meant to me. I really miss him.

The BEST Kitty ever!

Good night.

The Temps are Rising, Now the Snow Needs to Melt!

It's sort of funny how you get used to things being a certain way, and then when they absolutely can't be that way...It sort of sucks! Now that statement could be said for and applied to a lot of things, but most specifically, it applies to me getting to ride my bike almost every day that I have wanted to (which is almost every day) for the past couple of months, and that was just not possible at the end of last week and all weekend. I'll ride when it's cold, but single digits is too much, or too little, I guess. Also, the unmelting blanket of white stuff on the ground would have prevented any sort of riding mission anyway.

Well, what does one do when they can't ride their bike you might ask? Well, I went skate skiing a couple of days in North Boulder Park because it's close and pretty much flat, which is nice. It's been over a year since I've been on the super skinny slippery skis, and it showed! Now, I was no phenom the last time I went skate skiing, but I was getting a descent amount of glide on each ski and had descent balance. Well, not on Thursday. Skate ski poles come up to your chin, and while very necessary can also get in the way. Ultimately, if I stop thinking about what I am doing, disaster ensues. My fabulous display of lack-of-skill happened when I accidently planted my pole inside of my ski instead of on the outside. It didn't stop my forward motion, so I ran into the pole and ultimately landed flat on my face in the snow. It was pretty embarrasing, especially since 5 "pace line" pros were about 15 feet behind me. I'm glad that I can provide comic relief for the really talented kids! Luckily, I didn't snap my pole in half. That would have really sucked!

The other thing I have been doing to keep myself from going stir crazy is swimming. Now, I have spent a fair bit of time in the pool growing up on the swim team and all, but ever since my freshman year in high school, I have been on the less is more plan with swimming. Well, I hate to say it, but I actually enjoyed the couple of miles that I swam last week, so much so that I was worried that if it didn't warm up soon so I could start dirt jumping again, I might convince myself, again, that triathlons would be fun! Luckily the temperature got to 40º today, the snow is melting, and I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the last tri I did! Let it melt, let it melt, let it melt!!!

Build and ride session at Darner's this weekend! I can't wait. I love that place. Some places just have good vibes, and that's definitley one that does for me!